Add Effects to DVD Conversions

WonderFox DVD Ripper may seem like another video ripping utility, but under the hood it comes equipped with all sorts of cool stuff. You can use it to change the brightness or contrast of the ripped video or to apply effects to make it look like it has undergone massive post-production.

DVD ripping is certainly no novelty these days. There are so many applications to carry out this job that a new one trying to make its way on the market has plenty of chances to go unnoticed. WonderFox DVD Ripper on the other hand brings in some extras that can make the output result look like the work of a professional that spent many hours on the job.

The application does not come free of charge; its price tag reads $39.95. The limitations of the trial version prevent you from processing more than 5 minutes of video.

The interface is pretty basic, very similar to what software of the same feather makes available; the three-step way is shown here, too. The layout is intuitive and all the options are in plain view. For a simple rip job you do not need to go beyond the main application window.

As soon as you load up the DVD, either from the optical unit, an ISO file or a folder of your choice, you will be able to see the titles and the choices you have as far as options are concerned. The application puts at your disposal a hefty bundle of presets, which cover all the popular formats and resolutions, for portable devices, but not only.

As such, the output file can be readied for uploading to online video services (Facebook, Yahoo!, YouTube) or prepare it for Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV) and Android smartphones (HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung). Game hardware has also been taken into consideration and you can run the rips on PSP, PS3, Xbox or Wii consoles.

There are plenty of formats and video set-ups available in WonderFox DVD Ripper, but if you do not find the one you need, you can make your own choices; unfortunately you won’t be able to save your configuration as a preset.

The video settings are displayed in the lower part of the application window. You won’t be able to input the values yourself, but the predefined choices are all an average user needs. These include resolution, picking up the video quality, the encoder (MPEG4, XviD or H.264), sample rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, volume, etc.

Although these are the parameters to shape up the rip result, we noticed during our testing with PSP format that the frame rate is not entirely respected. We specifically asked for the highest value so that the quality of the end result is not greatly chopped off, but the file created had a lower frame rate.

As far as processing time is concerned, this depends on the file format and quality you select. A lower quality video will be produced much faster than a better looking one. Throwing in some effects also prolongs processing time, a lot.

Editing menu in WonderFox DVD Ripper is not a complicated one; the layout actually seems designed for novices. You can easily apply effects such as mosaic, emboss, add noise or make the picture look like an old film. Additionally, you can tamper with the contrast and saturation levels of the video.

All the changes can be previewed before the application proceeds to instilling them in the resulting file. Moreover, you can clip only a portion of the entire movie and process with various effects on. On the downside, you will not be able to apply effects to individual parts of the video.

Playing the preview side by side with the original file to see the difference between initial file and the end result was pretty choppy in our case.

Working with WonderFox DVD Ripper is extremely easy and the application definitely comes with a few aces up its sleeve. It is not demanding as far as resource usage goes, since during our evaluation we managed to run a ripping job and attend to other work with no problem.

The Good

The Bad

The Truth